The theater is able to integrate people with special needs

 

Theater has a greater role in developing the talents of people with special abilities, and it enters the circle of art therapy, especially since theatrical work is based on self-confidence in facing the audience. This is the first entrance for people with special abilities to come to terms with their problems and accept their various disabilities. The problem lies in the lack of vision and the lack of mechanisms.. We have to admit that those in charge of the theater for people with special abilities are not

 qualified to deal with the movement of the handicapped, the handicapped with Down syndrome, the blind, or the autistic ... etc.? We need awareness campaigns for the community, educational institutions and others about what people with special abilities are, and awareness and rehabilitation campaigns for trainers who deal with them professionally and not randomly. There are no specialized magazines, programmes, seminars and conferences, but there is deliberate marginalization, as there is no critical theatrical movement that supports them. This type of theater is of interest to many playwrights, so financial support must be provided for a theater for people with special needs, and suitable chairs must be provided for them and their audience with special needs, especially those with mobility disabilities, in addition to a moving ramp for the disabled, as well as appropriate lighting and the sound and motor aspects.

 And the perception of them must be changed, as they possess abilities and talents

Especially in the school theater, abilities that may not be present in healthy people, and this will only come through conviction, moral support and belief in their artistic works. We must all work hard to modify and refine their artistic, mental, psychological, social and cultural abilities through the employment of innovative theatrical forms in Playwriting, Dramatic Therapy, Interactive Theater Direction, Serious Engagement in Acting and Directing

Here, the role of puppet theater is evident in teaching disabled children a lot of skills and behaviors

 financial support, community culture, and real and fruitful interaction in dealing with multiple types of disabilities. This requires a great effort from the state and civil society.

 

 

Dr. Wageh Gerges

Writer 

 Member of the Egyptian Writers Union.